


Penny in a Diamond Mine

by monanotlisa



Category: Fringe
Genre: Alt!Team Love, Canon Compliant, Canon Related, Episode Related, Episode Tag, F/M, Gen, Multi, Season/Series 03, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000, teamfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-10
Updated: 2013-12-10
Packaged: 2018-01-04 06:01:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1077425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/monanotlisa/pseuds/monanotlisa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>"How do you feel about treason?"</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Penny in a Diamond Mine

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kerithwyn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kerithwyn/gifts).



> Set after 3x20 "6.02AM EST".
> 
> This will make only moderate amounts of sense if you haven't watched the episode.

Lincoln didn't sleep that night.

Granted, part of that wasn't about him. The probability of Henry waking up often -- not to mention early -- had been high given the low level of maturation of his central nervous system; Longest Self-Regulated Sleep Periods for babies under six months did not reach the eight-hour mark. But as it turned out, the theory-practice gap really was a bitch when it came to babies. Lincoln was no stranger to odd hours, and not just since the Division. Waking after midnight was common enough. But back in Ithaca, lab test duty had been scheduled, and now in New York the emergency signal came once per night only. Bottles, burping, and the process of getting Henry back to sleep with renditions of _No Surprises_ were irregular and recurring.

For most of his sleeplessness, though, Lincoln only had himself to blame -- his heart, his head. It was helpful, even pleasant, to have Henry with him, to hold tight and watch his eyes flutter shut. If in a world without her tiny son Liv had told Lincoln to stay put, he would have probably chewed the upholstery, or at the very least contacted Charlie.

When morning dawned, Lincoln cradled Henry's sleepy body to his chest and made three calls. The last one was easiest.

"Agent Francis. Good morning."

"Not what I'd call this." Charlie's voice, rougher than usual. Lincoln could hear the rustle of sheets in the background, and a creak that could be the bed or the old bones Charlie liked to complain about sometimes, as if he were sixty instead of barely forty. "What is it?"

"Follow-up only; I am grappling with a...supervisory issue here. Recall the very recent question of mathematics that came up?"

A beat, and a measured response. "Yes. _Sir._ "

"Let's discuss it where we last left off. It'll be a good hour, though."

"Alright. Francis out."

First, though, it was _Lee out_ : all the way in Tarrytown.

Before braving the Nixon Parkway traffic, Lincoln strapped Henry into his car seat with almost more effort than the actual drive took, against the flow of traffic. When he arrived at her doorstep, Marilyn was surprised...but not as much as she could have been. She had to know something was up. She was Liv's mother. Also, daughters weren't abducted to accelerate and ultimately enable a pregnancy for no reason at all. When Lincoln held Henry out for her to take, she just nodded; when Lincoln shook his head at her question about where his daughter was, her eyes and her mouth turned shocked, sharp.

She let him go after he promised to do everything in his power to get Olivia back. It was a little silly of her, Lincoln thought on the way back south to Manhatan: not like you had to sign a contract to keep breathing, either.

Opening the door to the hospital staircase, Lincoln was almost run down by a nurse, the guy's eyes wide as he squeezed past Lincoln. _Don't ask_ , he decided, glancing over at Charlie, whose jacket hung open. There was a thin strip of stubble on his cheek where the early-morning razor had missed the fraction of an inch. Charlie nodded at him. "Okay, buddy, you better start talking."

Not a problem. "How do you feel about treason? Because I feel bad about it -- not bad enough, obviously."

Charlie's mouth twisted into a wry smile. "Just like you. There are worse things." Their eyes met. "This about Liv, right?"

"Her, and a negligible thing such as the fate of all worlds." Seriously, if there was ever a time to sound dramatic, it was this one. But Charlie listened; he listened to every bit, from the case file of one, no, two Olivia Dunhams from Henry's genesis to the Secretary's endgame.

At the end, Charlie looked as if he didn't know whether to nod or shake his head. The Machine probably didn't make much sense to him, but to be honest, Lincoln too was at a loss when it came to the doomsday device that, just by activating, had triggered a spatial discontinuity. Charlie was good at getting to the bottom of things, though. "Think she made it? That she is already on their side's Division doorstep to convince the Secretary's son?"

"I don't know what would possibly happen once there. But we can find out whether she even made it. If she didn't but is still alive --"

"We need to get her. Yeah." Charlie looped his fingers into his belt, shifted his stance. "Not really trusting her in the hands of the guy hell-bent on wiping out another fucking universe."

"Or even keeping her in the epicenter a Fringe event." The power spikes hadn't stopped. The only thing that had ceased was the Lookers' inclusion of a certain island in the Hudson into their measurements and alerts. "It's all about Liberty Island."

Charlie's wasn't chewing gum; still the planes and angles of his so-familiar face still stood out in stark relief. "Lopez. You want me to find out through him what happened there tonight."

Lincoln nodded. The place was probably still uneasy from the Class Ten alarm, fake as it hadn't been after all. "We can still try to do it the old-fashioned way -- see if our ShowMes get us to the Island, scoop out the place." Olivia wouldn't give up Lincoln, but the Secretary hadn't gotten where he was by being careless. Lincoln and Charlie being in on her plan to cross over may have occurred to the Secretary if he wasn't too busy. "But since you have an old Army buddy working at DoD Headquarters..."

"We try to squeeze him for information." Charlie stared out of the window, jaw still clenched. "You realize I'm not you, wonder twin, reading someone's voice frequency through some spectrometer that tells me their true thoughts."

"Whatever." Lincoln leaned forward; in spite of the lack of sleep he saw things clearly. "The energy surges are bound to create confusion -- perhaps even wipe out some of the security. They're bound to adjust to that, though. Our window of opportunity is closing. Anything helps. We're already late for work; I've called Astrid we're cross-checking data here at the hospital to retroactively identify Liv's abductors, but eventually someone will ask questions. And they won't be the right ones."

Charlie checked his watch, then tapped his com. "I've got it."

And he did.

When Lincoln and Charlie reached the pier, the official ferry was ordered and boarded with no measurable delay. Only, the private at the gates kept eyeing him with an expression Lincoln couldn't quite place. Lincoln was pretty sure he was staring back at her a little too hard in turn, because he could feel Charlie's hand on his elbow, grip seemingly soft but with steel underneath. _Relax_.

Easier said than done knowing that the DoD was -- literally -- a-buzz, full of whispers about Dr. Fayette in the infirmary and someone new transported into Section F in the dead of night. News would never travel outside, but they were Division, and Charlie had kept in touch with his band of brothers. It didn't take an insider for that one either; when Lincoln had joined Fringe Division it had long been talked about in hushed whispers. _You only make it out of Section F one way: in a body bag._

Lincoln had suspected that was bullshit even then; he was sure of it now. Because if Liv was in there, they'd get her out, alive and well.

No one awaited them when they made it to the Island. Everything was quiet. Eerily quiet, in fact, given the momentous events on the inside. Stepping into the shadow of the Statue this hazy New York morning, Charlie's lips were barely moving when he spoke softly into Lincoln's ear. Lincoln clamped down on the slight shiver down his spine. "Let's hope this plan works."

"The Secretary tasked me directly with finding the abductors. Following up and taking it straight to him makes sense. There could be a thousand reasons I don't want to telecommunicate with him."

"That part we can do. Only, entering Section F will raise flags."

Lincoln tapped his temple and grinned. "Ah-ah. We will only set off any alerts if we _badge_ in."

Charlie didn't look convinced, but given that was pretty much his job when it came to Lincoln's suggestions, Lincoln didn't worry. He didn't worry all the way down into the heart chambers of the DoD, choosing to ignore the nervous energy of the place. They stopped once at a science section desk for a brief chat ending with a file in his hand, and once at a kitchenette for a handful of _So(y)Good_ bars. He was going through with this; he was just executing a plan. He was also pointedly ignoring Charlie's sideways glances.

They reached the intersection. No way back from here on in.

"Hey, boss, you may want to work on that slightly manic grin."

Fair enough.

The hallway leading into Section F was empty at the moment. Lincoln exchanged a glance with Charlie and opened the file he'd snagged earlier. Charlie rolled his eyes but obediently shuffled closer. Bent heads, foreheads almost touching. Charlie looked normal enough at first glance, but his pupils were blown wide, and this close to him Lincoln could see tiny beads of sweat just above his eyebrows. Lincoln was still trying to keep his face impassive. He considered himself good, yes, but he liked to think he was also good at realizing the truth of a matter presented to him.

"Charlie?"

"Yeah?"

"I think it's entirely possible we both fucking suck at clandestine operations."

"Oh, you think?"

Before Lincoln could come up with a reply, there was movement behind them in the corridor. A soldier, rank unknown because Lincoln made it a point to not look up but tap the footnotes on page three of Patel's 2007 quantum anomaly study snagged earlier. "I'm telling you, the suspect has it. We just need to press a little harder." Charlie mumbled something in return, in character too, probably. It didn't matter because there was no scrutiny. He walked straight past Lincoln and Charlie. Time for the second act, then.

Lincoln threw Charlie a last long look, and followed. At the keypad, the -- right, staff sergeant lifted his badge up to it, and the door whooshed open. Lincoln wiggled closer. The sergeant turned, eyes suddenly sharp. His badge read "Chen". Lincoln smiled, as friendly-yet-absently as he could, and apologetically lifted his full hands: file in one, snacks in the other. A little hip-tilt let his Fringe Division Team Leader badge fall into view.

Staff Sergeant Chen's face relaxed; he closed his mouth and nodded curtly at Lincoln. They both walked through.

Lincoln took the first right, splitting away from Chen. He tapped his com. "Charlie, you hear me?"

"Loud and clear."

Good. This meant there wasn't anyone else coming through right now. Lincoln took a deep breath, tried to get his heart rate under control. Charlie would hang back and monitor the situation, and Lincoln could pull his tailgating trick once more, maybe. Still, coming in from the outside, access to each door from here on in would only be granted in ever-decreasing, concentric circles -- and getting out would require the same access. Charlie's deep voice resonated in his memory: _Lincoln, man, it's a_ prison. _It's hard to get in; it's harder to get out. That's the whole point._ They both had known from the start he'd ultimately need someone else's access to reach Liv's cell, and that meant getting his hands on a badge.

Lincoln squared his shoulders. Time to rock and --

rolling sounds from down the corridor, after a heavy thump. Lincoln's right hand dropped to his holster, the left flew up the comm. But before he could say as much as, "Cape Canaveral, we've got a problem", Olivia was skidding around the corner, hair a red halo. She still wore the fatigues she'd worn last night, only stripped of gear and weapons. There was a bruise on her forehead, but otherwise, she looked fine. Finer than fine. Lincoln blinked. She also held a...badge in her hand? Its little hook was ripped.

"Lincoln." Liv nodded at him, the corners of her mouth lifting and her eyes widening. "Is Henry --"

"He's okay. He's -- you know where." His heart was jumping.

She exhaled and flashed him a grim smile. "Thanks. Let's get out of here."

"Nothing I'd rather do. And you?"

They fell into step next to each other, Liv breathing hard but moving freely, fluidly. "I'm good. You, please tell me you've got a better way away from Liberty Island than to jump into the Hudson."

The wail of the alarm didn't catch Lincoln by surprise exactly, but it still made him twitch. He pointedly hit his com. "Charlie, we're approaching our last rendez-vous point, yes, _already_ ; long story. We need to accelerate the plan."

"Copy that. I'll take care of it."

Liv eyed him, but they reached the portal. She slapped the badge against the keypad of the door Lincoln had slid through ten minutes earlier. It flickered yellow. Lincoln's mouth went dry. Olivia took a deep breath and tried again. The door opened, and then they were through, out, almost running headfirst into the Watch Commander and two guards. Lincoln and Liv probably wouldn't have made it if it hadn't been for Charlie appearing behind them, using the butt-end of his gun to uneven the numbers in their own favor.

To the emergency exit.

Once outside, the bright daylight made him blink; for just a second it was hard to orient himself. Next to him, Liv was whispering urgently at Charlie, who nodded. "Right there."

A small path in the grass. Charlie charged when the first gunshots sounded out behind them. The team raced down the slope, through the trees, weaving back and forth.

"Down by the water, at the old pier!" Lincoln could see the boat, its bright red coat a beacon in the gray mist. The vessel was already unmoored too, thanks to Charlie's command. Between the pier and the landing ramp there were a few feet of empty space, but it wasn't like they hadn't all catapulted themselves out of the way of moving vortexes. "Jump in, guys!"

The engines roared to life before Liv, Charlie, and he even hit the deck, and only half a second after the impact the ship was sliding away, into the open waters. Liv had to raise her voice over the sound of the gunfire fading into the distance, the sound of the waves. "How did you get your hands on a Monster Speedboat?"

Lincoln couldn't stop grinning at. "Henry – not your son, his godfather. I thought about resourceful people far outside Fringe Division willing to take a bet on you. He has a cousin with a boat, only that it was too slow. Said cousin, however, was friends with the captain of this boat --“

"Who had a neighbor who had a teacher who had a dog who had -- Jesus, Linc, just tell her you emptied your accounts of all your daddy's money and gave it to the guy who owns this boat."

"Hey, I'll have you know I held some back to get that crate of rum and coke you were begging me for.”

"Our captain is waving at us; think he wants directions.“ Liv's voice was low but carried across the water. "Where to?"

Good question, actually. Lincoln glanced at Charlie, who shrugged with a decided _I'm Just Here For The View_ look.

"Well then, boys, I've got just the plan. Let's set sail for Tarrytown Marina and grab the actual boy." Liv's smile was a lot brighter than this day so far. "And then we figure out how to save both universes."

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. Thanks to the ever-fabulous [Sam Johnsson](http://samjohnsson.dreamwidth.org) for swift beta and to [blackiebrens over on YouTube for vidding the Alt!Team to The Kills' ''Sour Cherry''](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O73zCBUoDa4).
> 
> 2\. Check out the rest of the stories for the [Fringe Exchange](http://fringe-exchange.dreamwidth.org/), where [this was first posted](http://fringe-exchange.dreamwidth.org/8203.html). It's an Alt!verse-y holiday season this year!
> 
> 3\. I was torn about classifying this, thus the…admittedly excessive categories. Lincoln's love for Liv is canon and featured here, so there's at the very least an "Liv/Linc" tag, arguably with an "unrequited" qualifier (not what I believe, but it's one take on what we see on-screen). What the future will bring for the Alt!Team is open… and open-minded too: If you don't feel Lincoln Lee is bi in all universes, _I really cannot help you_. Then again, this story as such is gen. Oh, Fringe. I miss you.


End file.
